CBI officer moves Delhi HC against Asthana’s petition

NEW DELHI: A Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) officer on Wednesday moved the Delhi high court, opposing the petition of the agency’s special director, Rakesh Asthana, to have the bribery case against him quashed.

SS Gurm, an additional police superintendent with the CBI, said he had “reasonable apprehension” that the agency was seeking to protect and support Asthana. He sought to be heard as a party to Asthana’s plea seeking the quashing. Gurm was among the CBI officials transferred last week after Asthana’s feud with CBI director Alok Verma escalated. The government was forced to divest Verma and Asthana over the corruption charges the two have levelled against each other. The CBI had on October 15 registered the case against Asthana saying two middlemen had allegedly struck ₹5 crore deal on his behalf to close a case against Hyderabad-based businessman Sana Satish Babu.

Gurm accused Asthana of misleading the court by placing “only selective documents on record”. He promised to produce “relevant materials and important facts” to enable the court to effectively hear Asthana’s plea.

Gurm’s plea, which is likely to be heard on Thursday, claimed that the probe conducted till date revealed that ₹2.95 crore was paid “as illegal gratification” in December 2017 in Asthana’s name. He alleged ₹36 crore was paid to Asthana “as illegal gratification” in October 2018.

“There was incriminating evidence that establishes a clear link between Sana Satish Babu (the complainant) to the Prasad Brothers to Samant Goel (Special Director R&AW) and culminating at Shri Rakesh Asthana,” he claimed.